Flavian’s POV
Cam was sitting across from me, mouth agape. Next to him, Olivia wasn't even breathing. I felt apprehensive. He handed me the paper, and I looked at it, unable to believe what I was seeing.
"Positive? What do you mean positive? No, Manu can't be that woman's daughter!" I could hardly believe that Manu had that monster for a mother.
When Cam started telling me about his suspicions, at first it seemed too fantastic, but then everything started making sense. I had in my hands a DNA test confirming that Manu was the daughter of that monster Rita.
"It can't be, Flavian, it can't be, Manu can't be that snake Rita's daughter. Manu looks just like my mother, Flavian, you saw the photo." Cam was crying. He was on the verge of despair, and I was also in disbelief.
Olivia got up and went to the counter, returning minutes later with the laboratory supervisor. He sat down beside us and explained that the test was reliable and there was no chance of error. But Cam was inconsolable. He took out his phone and showed the lab director photos of both Manu and his mother.
"Do you really think there's no chance your laboratory made a mistake? Is the resemblance between them just pure coincidence?" Cam asked the man who was still examining the photos.
"Look, possibly the young lady's mother resembles the woman in the photo." The man tried to find an explanation, but Cam showed him Rita's photo. "Yeah, they don't look alike. If you want, we can repeat the test at no additional cost, but we'll need new samples. And it would be helpful to have samples from both women."
"One of them passed away twenty years ago," Cam said, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh no, Cam, I know that look, you're not giving up!" Olivia protested.
"Oli, I can't go back into that house again, I can't get that sample," Cam tried to calm her down.
"What are the chances the samples were switched here in the lab?" Olivia lifted her chin and stared at the facility director.
"I'd say they're practically zero. Our processes are rigorously verified, and if something like that happened, it would be a disaster. We'd have to redo all the tests that were processed along with this one, and it would be chaos," the man explained.
"Well then, prepare for chaos!" Olivia stood up. "I'm personally going to bring those samples." She took the man's card and said goodbye. "Let's go, boys!"
I looked at Cam, and he shrugged. We followed Olivia out of the laboratory. She had a gleam of determination in her eyes that was radiant.
"Listen up, guys. I'll handle the DNA, and you handle the investigation. We're going to free Manu from this demon or my name isn't Olivia Ferrante Blanco!" Olivia was determined.
"How is she going to do that?" I asked Cam while she got into the car.
"No idea, but you can bet she'll make it happen," Cam replied, and I found it amusing.
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